The giant Christmas tree at the Fuente Rotunda in uptown Cebu City was simply no match to the power of super typhoon Odette. The strongest typhoon to hit Cebu in years has also left 13 people dead as of the last count. CDN Digital photo | Brian Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines — While Super Typhoon Odette left the country with so much destruction, it also left behind so many lessons, particularly for the nation’s government agencies.
Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa)-Mactan chief Engr. Al Quiblat Jr. told CDN Digital that among the lessons they learned as an agency after Odette was to strengthen their information education campaign, modify their tropical cyclone categories, and enhance the backup power source of their station.
“As far as we know, wala mi magkulang og disseminations for the warnings regarding the Typhoon Odette. In fact, as early as December 10, (2021) nag provide na mi og information forecast for the bagyo and it was also determined during December 12 nga ang bagyo will reach the category of Typhoon. And we were very consistent with the track ng bagyo (Super Typhoon Odette),” he told CDN Digital.
“The lesson learned there is the understanding sa publiko. Ang Pag-asa’s challenge now is to strengthen yung IEC nato,” he added.
Information Education Campaign
He said that this year the entire Pagasa has launched its nationwide #MAGHANDA campaign involving workshops and seminars to capacitate responders and facilitate a clear understanding of the advisories and warnings they issue.
This, he said, is to eliminate confusion when it comes to technical terms.
Modification of Tropical Cyclone Categories
Moreover, Quiblat said that among the modifications the agency made after the onslaught of Super Typhoon Odette in December 2021 is to update their Tropical Cyclone categories, which were not in sync with the International Prediction Center.
He said that Odette did not reach 220 kilometers per hour (KPH) so Pagasa did not categorize it as Super Typhoon, but for the International Prediction Center, a tropical cyclone with 185 KPH is considered a super typhoon. So he said, Pagasa needs to adapt to the changes.
Photo from Engr. Al Quiblat Jr., chief of Pagasa-Mactan
Enhancing the backup power source in the station
The Pagasa-Mactan chief also said they are currently working on enhancing their backup power source, so they can immediately resume operations in case another calamity of the same impact as Odette happens.
“Yung forecasting namo wala dayon namo ma restore kay di na man mi ka pa andar na kay three days, four days, wala na. Guba na ang generator kay ang generator is not designed for 24/7 operations,” he recalled.
This plan, he said, is being taken up by their central office as the Mactan station is purely operational and does not have its own budget. /rcg
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